ADAM Barrett has called on Southend United to show more fight following Saturday’s 4-0 drubbing at Scunthorpe United.

The disappointing defeat saw the Shrimpers sink to third from bottom in the League One standings.

And Barrett believes Blues will need to dig deep to work their way out of danger.

“We’ve got to start fighting for the football club,” said the skipper.

“We’ve got to show pride in wearing the shirt and playing for this club.

“We have to graft and do the ugly side of things much better.

“Our fans will stay behind us because they’re magnificent but they want to see the team go out there and give it everything we’ve got.

“We have to make sure we do that and start to pick up results.

“I could stay here talking until the cows come home but we have to back it up by picking up points.”

Blues will now be bidding to avoid defeat against Millwall at Roots Hall this weekend.

But they head into the game on the back of a desperately disappointing result which left Barrett feeling frustrated at the final whistle.

“Up until they scored we were doing OK but there’s a lack of confidence at the moment and it showed,” said Barrett.

“When one goal goes in it’s too easy for the team to almost fold.

“We’re struggling to score goals and when we go 1-0 down it’s difficult looking to see where we’re going to get back into it.”

However, Barrett remains determined to help Blues get back on track and revealed honest talks had taken place in the dressing room after the game at Glanford Park. “We had a chat after the game and were very honest about it all,” said the 36-year-old.

“It’s still early but we want to get out of this situation and we have to work harder as a team.

“We have to be ruthless and we have to fight tooth and nail to get out of this league position we’re in but the players are in need of a pick me up.

“It’s only us who can make that happen and we have to keep on believing in each other and what the gaffer is telling us.

“Hopefully we can get a good result on Saturday and move on from there.”